Lee Reilly announces the theme WAVES for the GitHub Game Off 2025, outlining how developers can join, create games, and celebrate creativity with the global GitHub community.

GitHub Game Off 2025: Theme Announcement — WAVES

Author: Lee Reilly

GitHub’s annual Game Off returns for its 13th year in November 2025. The theme this year is WAVES, encouraging you to create a game inspired by anything from gravitational, tsunami, or audio waves to digital, emotional, or nostalgic themes.

Quick Facts

Event: GitHub Game Off 2025
Theme: WAVES (flexible interpretation)
Submission deadline: December 1, 2025, 13:37 PST
Platform: Projects must be stored in a public GitHub repository and submitted via itch.io

Ideas and Inspiration

Space shooter navigating gravitational waves
Tower defense facing waves of baddies
Rhythm game catching the beat
Racing through vaporwave soundscapes
Physics puzzler using reflection or refraction of waves
Remake old favorites evoking waves of nostalgia

Stuck for ideas? Try asking GitHub Copilot for suggestions.

Participation Steps

Sign up: Create a GitHub (and optionally an itch.io) account.
Join the jam: Register at the Game Off 2025 itch.io page.
Create a public repository: Store and push source code to GitHub before the deadline.
Submit your game: Enter your project on itch.io for voting.

Judging Categories

Overall
Gameplay
Graphics
Audio
Innovation
Theme interpretation

Voting runs until January 8, 2026. Winners are announced January 10, 2026.

Guidelines

Start your code from scratch, though templates are allowed
Use any language, game engine, or assets
Teams or solo development welcome
Open source preferred, not required
AI-assisted development (e.g., GitHub Copilot) is allowed

Learning Resources

Game Engines: Godot, Unity, Unreal Engine, Phaser, Pygame, Bevy, LÖVE, Flame, Ebitengine, Defold, libGDX, HaxeFlixel
New to git or GitHub?:

The Game Off 2025 Community is available for support, collaboration, and team formation.

Join thousands of developers in sharing, building, and celebrating creativity. Whether your game rides or wipes out, you’re part of a global community pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with code. Good luck and have fun!

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